Taking control
by ALLRRPRP
Summary: Mai finally decides to end her disfunctional and humiliating relationship with Andy. But how will she cope? Will she realize that she can't live without Andy, or will she enjoy the new found liberty? Please, read and review!


Taking control

Author's Note: This story takes place after the events of KOF2000. As you all know, in '99 Mai finally joined with Andy, which is what she had been waiting for ever since '94. But, in 2000, she was replaced by Blue Mary. Of course, she was furious. This story depicts what she didn't do, but what I think she should have done then. It is also, in part, a reaction to all those Mai-bashing fics I have read on this web-site. People accuse her of being a slut, but she has always been faithful to Andy. The way she dresses is just a cry for attention, which she never gets from Andy. She is just a deeply unhappy and misunderstood woman. Well, this fic is about to change that. Oh, yeah, the words in italics are used to represent a character's (mostly Mai's) thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own King of Fighters, or any of the characters I use in this fic (because, if you write fanfiction, you're not supposed to own the characters you write about. ;) Then it wouldn't be a fanfiction…)

She didn't sleep well that night. She has been lying awake in her bed, tossing and turning and when she finally managed to fall asleep she dreamed some bizarre nightmare. She woke up covered in sweat. The clock on her night table showed 6:30 am. _I might as well get up, I won't be getting any more sleep, that's for sure. _A couple of minutes later, she was holding a cup of coffee, thinking about what she planned to do today. _I could still back out, I guess… No!_, she thought. It had to end today. She would usually ask her friends for advice about something like that, but this time, she didn't confide in anyone. It was something she decided by herself, and she had to carry it out alone. She took a sip of the coffee, but she barely managed to swallow it, due to a lump in her throat. _Jeez, would you relax a little, _she said to herself. _It's no big deal… _But it was a big deal. At least for her… She poured the remaining coffee down the drain, and quickly got dressed. She prepared her fans and she was ready to get out, when she glanced at the clock on her night table. It was 7 am. He probably wasn't even up yet. Mai slumped down on her bed, feeling exhausted. _I can't believe I'm already tired, I just got up! _The fact that she had to wait irritated her immensely. She wasn't even sure when would be a got time to go. _Not_ _too long after noon, because he will probably be out. _She was feeling pretty stupid that she had to guess the appropriate time like that, but every time she tried to call him and schedule a meeting like usual, she would find herself hanging up before anyone would answer the phone. She hadn't talked to him since that day. Of course, the bastard didn't even try to call her. She was always the one taking the initiative. As she relaxed a little, she started remembering that day. She had to find out that she was being expelled from his team via newspaper. When she came to his apartment, it was Terry who opened the door. "What do _you _want? Andy's not here.", he said arrogantly. She still remembered the way he said "you". Full of contempt, arrogance and disrespect. But Andy _was _there then, she knew it. He was just too much of a coward to face her himself. But he will face her today. She'd make sure of that.

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She rang the doorbell. Noone answered. He was inside, she could sense it. She rang it again, this time longer. Finally, the door opened. And there he stood, the man she loved and hated so much. She flinched a little, but he didn't notice that.

"Uh… Hi, Mai", he said, with absolutely no emotion on his face.

"What's the matter? There's no Terry this time around to lie that you're not here?", she asked accusingly.

"Uhm… Is there something _you_ want, Mai?", he asked.

She flinched again, this time around he noticed it. The way he said "you" was exactly the same way Terry did it a couple of months before. She felt anger boiling up inside of her. She has been preparing a speech for this occasion for so long, but, in an instant, she forgot it completely. _Let's just cut to the chase, _she thought.

"Yes, I'm here to challenge you to a fight, Andy!", she said.

"What… _you_?(_Again that tone, _she thought.) Come on, Mai, don't be ridiculous. If you want to hurt yourself, you can go bungee jumping or something…"

_No, I want to hurt you, _she thought.

"I'm serious! Do you accept the challenge? If you don't, than you're a coward!"

"Mai, now, what's this all about? I don't understand…"

"Actually, I came here today to break up with you", she interrupted him. "I was hoping for a good-bye-fight in the end, but, since you're being such a jerk, we can just fight now and talk later. Or don't talk at all. I wanted to explain things to you, but now I see that it would be just a waste of time. So, when I'm done with you, I don't wanna see you ever again!", she exclaimed furiously.

"Oh, Mai, please, _you _breaking up with me? Now, that's just insane. What would you do then all the time between two KOF tournaments? You would have noone to stalk."

She couldn't believe he was being that rude to her. After all that time, she certainly deserved more! _OK, he's just making things easier… _

"Do you want us to do it outside? I would love to trash your apartment, but I'm also fine with fighting outside if you have some expensive china in there that you would like to save from breaking.", she said, more furious than ever.

"Whatever", he said, still completely emotionless. "But, if you end up in hospital, I'm not paying for the treatment."

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The sun was already setting when she got home that day. Every bone in her body hurt. She felt pain in places that she didn't know existed. But, she was also happy. She had broken up with Andy, and, which was even more important, she had defeated him in a one-on-one fight! _Wow, I can't believe I actually did it. _Andy couldn't believe it also. She remembered the look of shock on his face, when he realized that he lost. _He will probably have to cut his hair, since I've burned most of it,_ she thought to herself with a smirk on her face. She wanted to hurt Andy and she did it. Nothing serious, he'd be OK soon, but his injuries were worse than hers. It felt so good… _Did I really do it? Maybe he wasn't using his entire strength, _she started questioning herself. True, she did catch him kinda off guard by showing up at his place unannounced. He wasn't expecting a fight, he was probably just out of bed. But she also wasn't fighting with all her power. She was consumed with rage, and every time she was angry, she was significantly weaker. If she had had a clear head, she could have probably finished that fight much earlier. She knew it would take some time for her wounds to heal. It would take even more time for her to get over him completely. But the hard part was over. She didn't need to be alone anymore.

She could let her friends help her get better.

She dialed a number. Soon, a male voice answered. "Good evening, Mr Sakazaki, Mai Shiranui speaking. Is Yuri at home?" She waited a while until Yuri got to the phone. "Hey, Yuri, what's up? Are you available tonight? Would you like to come to my place? I have something important to tell you." (Author's Note: this sign "…" represents the time when Yuri is speaking.)

…

"Well, I would love to go out instead, but I can't." … "Uhm, why? Listen, just come on over, OK? It's important." … "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry. I'll also invite King, I think you should both know this." … "OK, I'll see you soon. Bye."

Mai hung up and then dialed another number. "Hello? Hi, King, it's me, Mai. I was wondering… Could you have Sally or Elizabeth replace you at the bar tonight? I would like you to come over to my place, there's something I wan't to tell you." … "Well, I guess I could come to the bar, but I would rather stay at home, you see, I'm feeling kinda sore. (_Now, that's an understatement, _Mai thought.) … "You can? Great! Yuri's coming, too. Oh, and, King? Bring a bottle of champagne, would you? There's something we need to celebrate." … "No, I'm certainly _not _getting married to Andy", Mai said, annoyed. She felt a slight pain in her chest that had nothing to do with her injuries. … "No, I can't tell you now, I wanna tell it to you and Yuri at the same time." … "OK, see ya. Bye."

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Two years have passed. It was '02, and this year, there was no KOF tournament (Author's Note: Except for the dreammatch, of course. ;) ). Mai, Yuri and King decided to go on a vacation together, and, now, they were relaxing on a beach in Cancun. Yuri has been talking about Robert for the past half an hour.

"He just can't seem to show any genuine affection. Instead, he keeps buying me these expensive gifts. Like that's the answer to everything. I mean, you guys know my style is totally casual. I have so many necklaces and bracelets lying in my drawers, I could open a jewelry shop!", Yuri finally finished complaining. She turned over on her towel, exposing her back to the sun.

Mai opend her mouth to tell her… But, she changed her mind, and quickly shut it. Yuri needed to make that decision by herself, just like she did.

"So, how are things going with Ryo, King?", Yuri asked.

"Like I need to tell you, Yuri. I know that he tells you everything.", King replied.

"Yeah, but I would like to hear your opinion."

"Well, I don't know", King started. "He also seems to be having problems expressing emotions. I thought he was just shy, so I made the first move, I thought he would be relieved, you know… But he just became even more distant and acted as if I have offended him. What was up with that?"

"I don't know, maybe it's the thing with all fighters.", Mai suggested. "Their entire life, they just learn how to fight, so when it comes to emotions, they just can't cope. And that's why my next boyfriend will certainly not be a fighter! You know, ever since the word about my break up with Andy got out, I received a lot of calls from many guys, asking me out. Back then, I refused all of them, because I still wasn't over Andy, but now that I am, I was thinking about giving some of those guys a call. But, I realized that they are all fighters! I don't need another fighter, I just want a normal, low-key relationship with a guy that has had a normal childhood, who doesn't seek out vengeance, and who has no problems expressing emotions. And this is just the place to find someone like that."

"Not really. This is more of a place to have a casual fling", King pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe you're righ-…", Mai started to say, but she was interrupted by Yuri.

"Wow, hold on! Did you just say you got over Andy? And you thought you could just slip it through the conversation like that? I want more information!", Yuri demanded. "When did you realize it, is it because you met someone else… That kinda stuff!"

"Well-", Mai started again, only to be interrupted by King this time.

"Well, it was about time you got over that bastard! You broke up almost two years ago, right?"

"Yeah.", Mai said. "For a long time I was feeling pain every time I would think about him, and it was _often. _But now, when I think of him, I feel nothing. I have realized that I have never actually loved him. I loved an image that only existed in my head, I loved who I thought Andy was. But, that wasn't real Andy. Real Andy never gave me the time of day, and he had clearly let me know, on several occasions, that he wanted nothing to do with me. But, I was too blind to understand that. No, 'blind' isn't the right word… I was too much of a coward to face the facts. He told me something that day we broke up. Something that really hurt me, because it was true. He said that if I would break up with him, I would have noone to stalk. And it's true - up until that point, my life was empty, save for the moments I spent with him. To think how much time, energy and money (all the plane tickets, presents, you know…) I spent on someone that disdained me. …I didn't need two years to get over Andy. I needed that time to get over the image of him that I loved so much. And also to admit to myself that I have spent all these years of my life in vain. So many things I missed… I basically had no life back then. When I wasn't training or with him, instead of going out or spending time with my friends, I was thinking up names for our future children and making plans for our wedding. Pathetic! And it's not easy to confess that you're pathetic. I have missed so much, but I still have time to make it all up!"

"Oh, don't be so hard on him. I'm sure he also cared for you, in his own way.", Yuri said. "Who knows, you might still get back together."

"No.", Mai was calm, but firm. "I decided I just can't love someone who doesn't love me. I just can't afford it, you know? I'm not that young anymore. From now on, it has to be mutual."

"I agree with you 100, Mai", King said. "I think it's great you have finally taken control over your own life. You know, all these years, I've been meaning to tell you something about it, but I didn't. I thought that you should come up with it yourself. I was afraid that, if I told you to leave Andy, you'd just get angry and stop talking to me."

"Which is probably what I would have done, back then.", Mai agreed. "It was so much easier to blame someone else, than to face the truth. But, now, this is the new me! I must tell you, I like the new me, how about you guys?"

"I love the new you!", Yuri exclaimed. "You're much more relaxed, you're smiling more, and you're easier to talk to. You know, I never told you this, but, back then, all you ever talked about was Andy. It was kinda hard to carry out a conversation with you like that."

"Yeah, I remember", Mai sighed. _Which is pretty much what you are like now, talking about Robert all the time, _she thought.

"And the new you doesn't dress as provocatively as the old you.", King noticed. "What's up with that?"

"I'm not sure. I guess that type of clothes reminds me of those days too much. When I had no dignity. I pretty much wore them just to make Andy jealous. I thought that if other men would notice me and hit on me, Andy would love me more… But that wasn't effective what so ever. It probably just made him disrespect me more."

"So, what are you gonna wear now? 90 of your outfit is super-revealing.", Yuri asked.

"I was planning a shopping spree.", Mai replied. "You guys wanna help me out with that?"

"Sure! And now that you're changing your style, you can always borrow some of my clothes.", Yuri offered.

"Uhm… thanks", Mai said. Yuri was really sweet and a good friend, but she had a dreadful fashion sense.

………………

Mai closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of sun rays on her skin. She smiled. For the first time in so many years, she was happy. Not that kind of happiness mixed with anxiety that she felt when she was with Andy, or the kind mixed with anger and spite that she felt after she broke up with him. Just pure, calm happiness.

It was getting late. "You guys wanna get back to the hotel?", Mai asked. "We need to get ready for tonight." They have planned to spend the night at a popular club near their hotel.

"Yeah, let's go", Yuri and King said. They started packing their things.

_There is certainly gonna be a lot of guys tonight at the club, _Mai thought. And although King was right, although this was no place to meet someone you could have a steady relationship with, a casual fling wouldn't be so bad either. Mai smirked to herself as she was putting on her flip-flops and started walking towards the hotel with King and Yuri. _I bet tonight's gonna be really interesting… _

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So, that's it! Did you guys like it? How do YOU like the new, liberated Mai? Anyway, please review. And please tell me if there are any spelling errors. Yours truly,

ALLRRPRP


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